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Foreign trade drives Q4 growth in Germany

Foreign trade propelled growth in Europe's largest economy in the fourth quarter while domestic demand, which had been a key growth driver throughout the rest of the year, was a drag.

Seasonally-adjusted data from the Federal Statistics Office confirmed an earlier flash estimate showing German gross GDP increased by a modest 0.4% on the quarter between October and December.

This compared with 0.3% during the previous three months.

A detailed breakdown showed domestic demand subtracted 0.7 percentage points from growth while foreign trade, which had been weak for much of 2013, added 1.1 percentage points to GDP.

The statistics office said the domestic economy sent "mixed signals". Capital investment picked up significantly, big inventory reductions slammed the brakes on growth and public expenditure was stagnant while private consumption dipped.

But economists expect domestic demand to gain momentum this year and Berlin is relying on it to drive a predicted 1.8% expansion while foreign trade is expected to dampen growth.

Last week data showed real wages in Germany fell in 2013 for the first time in four years.

The outlook for household spending is bright this year given that workers are expected to get strong wage hikes and benefit from record employment levels and moderate inflation while low interest rates give them little incentive to save.

The Economy Ministry has said it expects private households to spend considerably more on consumption and home building this year due to those favourable conditions.

The German economy was a growth locomotive during the early years of the euro zone crisis but its performance has weakened over the last two years, and in 2013 it grew at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis.

German sentiment indicators have generally been upbeat of late, with surveys showing increases in consumer and business morale, suggesting the economy will gather speed in early 2014.

But the latest hard data has painted a more gloomy picture, with exports, industrial output and orders all falling in December. That has prompted some economists to warn that the economy is not faring as well as the forward-looking "soft" surveys suggest.

The data confirmed an earlier flash estimate showing Germany's gross domestic product was up 1.3% on the year in the fourth quarter.

Separately, the statistics office said that the German federal, state and municipal governments together achieved a surplus of €0.3